December!!!! p.s. I only have 100 days left HOORAY!

Here are a few pictures of us during the month of December. Landon LOVED Christmas this year! He kept asking for "more Christmas lights" and pointed out Santa EVERYWHERE. The only thing he really hasn't figured out yet is snow...mainly cause we haven't really seen any. It snowed a tiny bit while we were in Utah, but not enough for him to think about what was really on the ground. I hope it snows in Seattle this year so I can show him how to have fun in it.

Landon helped out with the family gingerbread house this year. It's our annual tradition and Landon did a great job helping...although he kept trying to eat all the candy before it actually got on the house, haha.

This year Christmas lasted for 2 months in our house. I couldn't wait to get the decorations out, so I set everything up on November 3rd, as I put the Halloween decorations away. I used to think that Halloween was my favorite holiday, but this year proved that Christmas is actually my favorite. It's not necessarily the day, but just the time of year. I love all the decorations everywhere and the festivities. Going to Snowflake Lane, the Botanical Gardens, the Teddy Bear Orchestra and the Nutcracker ballet. This year my sisters and my mom saw The Christmas Carol with Jim Carey in 3D. It was pretty cool. I'd never seen a movie in 3D before, so it was definitely interesting. We went to Temple Square back at the beginning of December. Landon saw Santa while we were in Charlotte. He actually did pretty well. I was surprised that he wasn't histerical when it came time to sit on Santa's lap. Here's a video of him on Christmas morning. I can't wait for next Christmas, just so I can see this little boy's reaction again.

Merry Christmas!!!

This year has been a great one. These pictures were taken on Kiawah Island, South Carolina. We used these pictures for our Christmas cards, but unfortunately we didn't order enough of them...so forgive us if we missed you this year...I'll definitely order more next year! We took our summer vacation there with my family in early August. When we got back we found out that I was pregnant and we were very excited about that. Landon had is first "real" Halloween....meaning that he actually went trick or treating and somewhat got the concept of Halloween. He really enjoyed it. My parents visited just before Thanksgiving and we found out that we will be welcoming a baby girl in April 2010. We spent Thanksgiving at Ben's parents house and Landon and I just got back from visiting Charlotte, NC with my family a week before Christmas. Landon loved hanging out with his Papa Dirt and playing with Atticus the dog. He enjoyed spending time with Lola and his Aunts too. I'll be posting pictures soon. We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and are able to enjoy time with family and remember the true meaning of Christmas. Love, Ben, Sarah, Landon, and Tessa (from my tummy).

Its a ___!!!!

We found out today at roughly 11am that we are going to be welcoming a baby GIRL this coming April. We are so excited! The doctors say she looks very healthy and we couldn't be happier. Only 142 more days to go...we're half way there!!! I'm so thankful to Landon for helping me stay busy and making this second pregnancy go by faster ;) He's going to be such a good big brother. I kind of wish that the technician had gotten a print out showing the sex of the baby, but I guess this way I can keep my baby girl modest ;)

An Heirloom Tomato?

So according to BabyCenter.com the baby inside of me at 19 weeks is the size of an Heirloom Tomato. I think it's very interesting that they compare it to the size of certain fruits and veggies. We find out what we're having this Thursday morning. I have a gut feeling that it's a girl. This pregnancy is totally different.
I was sicker this time around. I don't have the acid reflux that I had so badly with Landon. I've started getting varicose veins in my upper thigh (GROSS!). And I'm carrying much smaller than I was with Landon at this stage too. I've gained 13-15 pounds so far and I'm at 19 weeks...Last time I had already gained 27 pounds at this week with Landon. If I try to flex my abdominal muscles it looks like I've just eaten a little too much. It's very weird not looking very pregnant and being just about half way done with the pregnancy. But who knows, one of my friends had two totally different pregnancy experiences and she had girls both times. Anyone have any guesses as to what they think I'm having?

Halloween Week 2009

We had a great Halloween this year. My sister Rebecca came to visit for the week and stayed until Halloween. It made Halloween week even better. This year we had playgroup parties to go to and we went to the pumpkin patch and to a corn maze too. We went to the cornmaze at night and I totally thought Landon would get scared but he had tons of fun running around in there. Its so much fun now that he's older and can understand the holidays a little bit more. We went to the movies and out to dinner a couple times too. Rebecca and I took Landon trick or treating on Halloween night. We had a great time and so did Landon. We taught him that he had to knock on the door first so then whenever we went up to the door he knocked on it and said "knock knock"...then they'd open the door and we told Landon to say "trick or treat"...it came out more like "trickeat!" Then he would either grab 2 handfuls of candy or when someone was getting the bowl, Landon would try to go inside their house. It was pretty funny. He was definitely an entertaining trick or treater. One thing he didn't like about Halloween was all the skeleton decorations. Everytime he saw one he would say "keton" and want me to pick him up and then he'd lay his head on my shoulder. It was actually pretty cute. I can't wait for next year!

21 Month Update

Landon is now 21 months old. He talks so much now. Saying 3-4 word sentences all the time now. He's a little copy-cat too. He always wants whatever I'm drinking or whatever I'm eating. He wants to sit where I'm sitting or lay where I'm laying. It's really funny. He's very interested in Halloween this year. He keeps pointing out every pumpkin that he sees. And he now knows what dark vs. light is and he always points out something dark and whispers "dark".


Latest Words: "night night time", "dark", "pumpkin", "sit doggy/bunny/giraffe", "swing the baseball bat", "throw basketball", "I see you", "Mommy, Daddy, Landon" (and points to each of us, or our spots at the dinner table), "2,4,6,8", "row, row, row your boat", "go to park", "drive a car", "shark", "polar bear", the lineup for Thomas the Tank Engine("Thomas", "Percy", "Gordon", "Toby", "Bertie", "Terence"), "bonkie" (whenever he bumps his head).


Favorite Things: Landon has always loved brushing his teeth ever since he got his first tooth, but I've recently noticed how much he LOVES Daddy's mechanical toothbrush. I really need to get Landon his own. He throws a fit if I take it away from him. Also his orange rain boots that he wears EVERYDAY. He won't wear anything else right now. He even wears them to church.


Favorite Foods: We recently discovered that Landon REALLY likes Cheeze-Its. He LOVES them. He'd rather eat those than string cheese, and he never turns down string cheese. He loves the lasagna that I make too.


Dislikes: Getting his diaper changed when he has a bottom rash. I don't blame him. He doesn't like getting in his carseat right now because he always wants to "drive cars", so I have to make a deal with him that if he gets in his carseat, we can drive the car when we get home. Usually it works and hopefully it works for a while.


Accomplishments: He can put his shoes on by himself and put his orange boots on by himself. I also caught him taking off his footie pajamas by himself when he woke up one morning, but he's only done that once.


Highs: When I let him sit in the driver's seat while the car is parked in the garage. His eyes just light up and he gets a big grin on his face.


Lows: When he has double ear infections (which he got a week ago) and then has to take an antibiotic that tastes really bad and gives him really bad diarrhea to the point where his bottom is so raw that it bleeds. I think its one of the saddest things I've seen him go through.


Tender Moments: The way he still looks for my thumbs to hold for comfort at night or when we sit on the couch and watch a show or when we're in the car. I also think it's sweet that when he bonks his head, he comes and asks me to kiss the "ouch".

Sorry for no picture right now, I'll upload one soon.

11 week Ultrasound

Here are a couple pictures of Shepherd baby #2. I had an ultrasound yesterday (at 11 weeks & 2 days) to test for any birth defects. I was so paranoid about the baby's health because of the scare that we had previously...and you can't feel anything at this point. But as soon as the technician put the ultrasound thing on my tummy, the baby was bouncing and moving around a lot. They say the baby looks good and healthy but won't know the definite results until the second test at the end of October. Ben says that "she" looks like me during my favorite pass time, which is curling up like a cat and napping ;) haha. We won't find out for at least 8 more weeks what the gender of this baby is, but obviously Ben thinks it's a girl. My gut instinct says it's a girl too, and I've been told that women who went with gut feelings on gender were 80% accurate. But who knows, I don't mind either way.

20 Months

My little boy is now 20 months old. That's how old I was when my sister Rachel was born...so weird to think about. This is a picture of him trying on his Halloween costume for this year(he's a spider!). He didn't want to take it off for a whole hour...which was kinda nice actually cause at least he's not one of those kids who won't wear their costume, right. Well, I guess we'll see on Halloween.

Latest Words: "Hold", "I love you", "show", "train", "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10", "rainbow", "sun", "bunny", "Landon", "monkey", "crying", "seahorse", "crab", "starfish", "push".

Favorite Things: baseballs...the other night Ben went in to check on him and Landon whispers, "baseball" in his sleep. It's so cute to know that he was dreaming about baseballs. Still loves going outside and playing basketball. Its going to be sad when it starts raining so much that he's not able to go outside.

Favorite Foods: baked spaghetti, italian chicken, enchilladas, quesadillas, bread, macaroni & cheese, regular spaghetti, still likes string cheese, pretzels, crunchies, McDonalds cheeseburgers and dipping fries in ketchup andjust licking the ketchup off, Garden Salsa flavored SunChips (he LOVES them).

Dislikes: Kidscare. He threw the biggest tantrum this morning and it was sparked purely by approaching the kidscare playroom.

Accomplishments: Helping me make taco soup by dumping the cans of beans and corn into the pot. He climbed up on the jungle-gym by himself the other day, which was pretty scary for me cause I seriously thought he would fall right through the bars. Eating a bowl of spaghetti by himself.

Highs: Throwing the basketball in the hoop. Holding his own cup without a lid. When daddy comes home. Watching football on tv. Playing "chase" with other kids.

Lows: When Mommy doesn't let him hold something that he's not old enough to hold by himself yet. Having to go home from the basketball court.

Tender Moments: When we ask him where the new baby is and he already knows to point to my tummy and then kisses it. It's the cutest thing ever! And those unexpected kisses while he's playing are the best too. He is also very intuitive. He knows when people are sad or happy and will point out and say "crying" if someone is crying. Sometimes he'll even say Elmo or his bear or giraffe are crying if he throws them on the floor and then brings it to me to kiss better. Its so funny how they pick up on things so fast.

Battle Wounds...

So about a week ago my little guy joined the official boy club. You know, the one where you get the scar underneath your chin. He fell in the shower just before church and hit his chin right where the shower slopes up. He had a nice split that was just gushing. Surprisingly, I was pretty calm about it and just called out to Ben to get Landon's towel cause he split his chin open...thank goodness it wasn't bad enough to need stitches.Then, on Thursday we were playing at the park just behind my house and I was sitting down and Landon was going down the slide. He's usually fine going down on his own. But I guess this time he decided to go down face first and must have banged his eye on the side where it winds a bit because he gave out a huge whale of a scream and would not calm down for like 10 minutes (which in crying time seems like forever). I looked at his face and asked him where it hurt but I couldn't find anything....and then I found the rug burn like mark just below his left eye. Now he's got a nice shiner. Poor little guy.

SURPRISE!!!

Its official. Another little one is coming to our family. We actually found out about a month ago, but we've just been keeping it a secret. This little spirit is due to enter the world on April 10, 2010, and I say, "perfect timing." Mainly because I won't be pregnant in the summer and he/she will be born really close to when the flu season is over.

We were hesitant to come out with the news of course because of the whole risk of a miscarriage. We already had a scare almost 2 weeks ago where I started bleeding, but I didn't have any cramping. This started on a Thursday night. The bleeding stopped on Friday but then started up again in the middle of the night on Saturday when I woke up sweating like I had just ran a marathon. I thought for sure that the pregnancy was over. I had an appointment that Monday and Ben and Landon came with. Landon was VERY well behaved. I'm seeing a group of midwives this time because my Dr. at Evergreen left and now I'm going to a closer hospital. So I saw a midwife on Monday and she was VERY nice. She asked me if we could try finding a heartbeat with the Doppler and if we don't, then she'd order an ultrasound. She immediately found a REALLY STRONG and healthy heartbeat with the doppler, which was very comforting. I was only 8 weeks along and she said the reason she was able to find it was because my pelvis tilts forward. She also said that she could see where I had been bleeding and that it was probably a blood clot from the placenta starting to form. She said that its actually pretty common for women to bleed in the first three months.

Anyway, other than that, things have been going well. I've been more sick than I was with Landon, which makes Ben think its a girl this time. But I told him that just because I feel different, doesn't mean that the sex of the baby is different. I really don't mind either way. I just want the first trimester symptoms to go away.

19 Months!!!

Landon is now 19 months old. He's such a big boy now. Often getting mistaken for being 2 years old now. We've been back from vacation for about 2 weeks now and Landon adjusted so easily compared to how he adjusted to the time change in Charlotte.

Latest Words: "Hug", "Door", "Window", "I see water", "green", "house", "mouse", "Moose", "MOMMY!", "outside", "inside", "baseball", "basketball", "basketball hoop", "giraffe", "hand", "hair", "bread", "carseat".

Favorite Things: Playing with the big boys (3-5 year olds) and copying everything they do. Reading with mom, Thomas the Tank Engine, putting the basketball in the basketball hoop.

Favorite Foods: Crunchies, mashed potatoes, pizza, taco soup, pretzels, string cheese, bread with butter on it, toast, quesadillas, chips, chocolate chip cookies, vanilla soft serve from McD's.

Dislikes: He has a hard time falling asleep in his carseat and gets restless when its late at night. Won't take milk out of a sippy cup. I've tried everything. HATES going to nursery because there are two kids that are kind of bullies in there, hopefully it will get better.

Accomplishments: He can walk up the stairs without holding onto the wall or the rail. He can swing on the big kid swings. He'll sit and watch a movie with me for at least 30 minutes. He LOVES to color with crayons and he's really good at staying on the paper.

Highs: Doing "Ready, Set, GO!" in which he races from one side of the room to the other. And his favorite is to do it with me or another kid where we start at opposite sides and see who can get to the other side the fastest. Going to the Concerts at the Park here in Auburn, where he can run around and dance to the music that is playing.

Lows: He got his first ear infection this month and he spiked a 103.8 temp. He hated the antibiotic at first, even though it tasted like bubblegum. He's still having a hard time in nursery.

Tender Moments: When we sit and watch a show before going to bed and he gives signs of being tired by turning and cuddling into me.

Here's Landon chillin' at the Concert at the park and he found a little chair that was his size (and of course it wasn't his)

He's getting so big and he can hold onto the big spinning toys by himself and isn't even scared. He's growing up way to fast. I am so grateful for cameras and their ability to capture tender moments. I love this kid sooooo much!

More Pictures of Kiawah

Here are the links to my facebook albums so that those of you who don't have FB can see them:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2136724&id=193303664&l=1f0222cd16

and

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2137438&id=193303664&l=6c9fcb8c38

Enjoy!

Kiawah Island, SC 2009

Sorry it has taken so long (a week) for me to post these. Landon's sippy cup leaked on my camera while we were on vacation so I was without a camera during almost our entire trip. Luckily I was able to dry it out and it works now. But I had to wait to have my mom make me a cd at Costco and send it to me... (and I appologize for the lack of pictures and the weird font, if you want to see more pictures, most of you are friends with me on Facebook and I have them all posted there)

Soooo, we took the redeye flight to Charlotte, NC to get there at 6am Thursday July 30th. Then on Saturday we drove to Kiawah Island. It took roughly 4 hours to drive there and Landon only napped for an hour and fifteen minutes of it. He was a pill for the rest of the ride. We had dinner with Rebecca and then drove off to the beach. The next day Emma and I decided to go on a bike ride with Landon while my parents golfed in the morning. Landon was in the childseat behind me and we decided to go through one of the tide pools. BIG MISTAKE! I was trying to look for a shallow one and mistakingly went through a deep on and couldn't pedal anymore cause the tires started to sink. Landon and I ended up falling over into the tide pool and Landon was fully clothed. It was so embarrassing cause there were tons of people on the beach and they totally saw the whole thing. It was pretty funny though, I kinda wish someone had taken a picture. I had and still have bruises all over my leg from the bike falling on me. Landon kind of started whining and I said "Its okay, we'll go home and shower and change you, okay." And Landon responded with a very cute, "K!"

We experienced a few really cool afternoon thunderstorms and Landon was always like, "Thundow, oooohhh, noooooo!" every time he heard anything that sounded anything like thunder. Then he would point out the window of the condo and say, "I see wawa!" because we had a view of the ocean. Then we went out for dinner with the guy who let us use his condo at the beach. He went to highschool with my dad all the way over in Australia. Landon was so good at dinner and it was a really nice change compared to how he had been acting the last few days.

The next day we slept in kind of late and finally got out to the beach around 11am. Landon had a lot of fun in the sand and in the waves. He doesn't like the saltwater too much though because it stings his eyes. He kept taking other kids' toys on the beach too because he thought every toy on the beach was his. We went to the grocery store and a torential downpour started while we were in there. It lasted almost three hours so we decided to watch a movie when we got home. Landon was in a really good mood when he woke up from his nap and was body slamming Papa Dirt and running around and laughing. And he sat and watched the movie with us...it was too cute!

Ben met us at the beach on Wednesday and we headed out to the beach, went surfing, and hung out. Rachel and Emma and I went boogy boarding. We were out there forever and got a lot of sun. We came back and made spinach artichoke dip and watched a movie while Landon napped. Then we went for a bike ride after eating a taco soup dinner, which was sooo good.

On Thursday we did pretty much the same thing and then in the late afternoon we took some photos that are hopefully Christmas card worthy. Landon was being a tyrant the entire time and just wouldn't cooperate. Guess that's what I get for being a pill growing up ;) Here's a few of the ones that are my favorites.

Friday we went surfing and went on a bike ride again and then we went out for dinner in downtown Charleston. Then we headed back to Charlotte on Saturday and went out for pizza when we got home because my parent's kitchen is being remodeled.

On Sunday we went to church with my parents and then had brunch after. Then we went swimming before Landon's nap and getting ready to go to the airport.

Cake #4

So my friend Shellee's birthday is this coming Sunday but last week I made her a cake because she is leaving on vacation tomorrow. I wasn't quite sure what design I wanted to do, but since we had gone to the midnight showing of Harry Potter the week before, I thought I'd make her a Harry Potter cake. Here's how it turned out....

Happy Birthday Shellee!!!

18 Months & Swimming Lessons

Landon is FINALLY 18 months old. I say FINALLY because now we are free for 2 hours at church because he can officially go to nursery. He actually started going to nursery when he was 16.5 months old and could stay as long as he cooperated and didn't throw a fit. But now he has to stay in there regardless...unless he needs a diaper change. He's definitely become a favorite in our house. He makes me laugh and smile everyday. Yes we have our rough days...like today he woke up from his nap and was fine and then 5 minutes later just threw a fit and was crying histerically. We finally checked his diaper and he was absolutely raw from swimming earlier...poor little guy. And then on Saturday we went to the pool and had fun and on the way home (literally 3-5 minutes away) he threw up in the car, all over the carseat, because I guess he took in too much water. Anyway, here are some updates on him. He is in the 25% in weight at 25 pounds and the 95% in height at 34 inches. The doctor says that his vocabulary is at the two year old level but that we need to get him drinking from a sippy cup rather than the bottle and he needs to be eating with a fork (which he doesn't do all the time cause I'd rather not have a mess so I feed him...I know, I need to get over it).

Latest Words: "swim", "pool", "poopoo" & "peepee" (which I'm super excited about!), "potty", "blue", "k" (he says it after I ask him a question and say "Okay?" and then he's like "k!" its the cutest!!!) "grandma", "water", "turtle", "snake", "please", and he does little short sentences like "bye bye truck" and "bye bye car" or "love you".

Favorite Things: His white teddy bear that my friend Sara from PwC gave him, swimming, still loves to play with anything that resembles a ball...even if its an apple, loves to ride his new radio flyer scooter. He loves copying everything that I do too. If he sees me doing something, he totally mymicks it. The "Elmo Loves You" video.

Favorite Foods: Italian Chicken is his FAVORITE! String Cheese, Crunchies, not a food but he loves ice cold water in his sippy cup. Taco Soup, pizza, mashed potatoes, pretzels, anything his friend Sutton is eating.


Dislikes: Still hates getting his diaper changed and now will run away and hide under a chair as soon as he sees me grab a new diaper or ask him if he needs his bumm changed. Does not like to sit in grocery carts anymore...I thought I would never be the mom to push one of those monster grocery carts with the toy car at the front, but it just might happen if his protesting starts getting out of hand.



Accomplishments: Swimming in the pool. Kicking his legs and "reach and pull" with his arms, holding onto the wall of the pool, swimming under water. I'm so proud of him! Can read the words "clap" and "duck".





Highs: Playing at the park. Chasing the big kids at Kidscare. Loves to swim! When he sees his friend Abby. Singing the Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree song (and he does all the hand motions...it's too cute!)




Lows: When he realizes that mommy is not in the nursery with him. And today when it took me 25 minutes to figure out that it was a severe bumm rash that was causing his histerical tantrum this afternoon. It was seriously soooo sad.


Tender Moments: The cute smile he gives me while lying in his crib in the morning. When he brings me his bottle after he's done drinking it and then says "day toe" (thank you) and runs off to play with his toys. And I love it when he lays with me and watches the Office on my iPod with me.


Sometimes I think, why do I need to bring more kids into this world when I've already got the BEST ONE IN THE WHOLE WORLD? But I still do want to expand our family someday.


Here are also some pictures from swimming lessons this year. He did so much better this year compared to last year. I honestly thought he was never going to like swimming cause last year we literally had to take his binky with us into the pool to calm him down. But this time it was like he was a pro. He was even better than some of the 2 & 3 year olds in his class.

And this has nothing to do with swimming lessons, but this is the last cake that I made for Landon's little friend Maya's first birthday party at a water park.

Happy 5th

Ben,

I just wanted to say Happy 5th Anniversary! I can't believe we're already at the 5 year mark. I love you very much and am so happy to be your wife. I'm thankful that I can count on you and that we work through the challenges that come our way. You are such a wonderful daddy to Landon and it always makes me smile at how good you are with him. He loves you so much. You are my best friend and I'm excited for many more adventures to come in our life together.

I love you more and more everyday!

Love your Feetheart!

Happy 4th of July!

We went to Ben's cousin Jordan's cabin on Bainbridge Island for the 4th of July. Landon loved the ferry ride and had fun running around Jordan's house and backyard. I decided to make another marshmallow fondant cake. This was my second time making one of these cakes and it didn't really turn out as great as I wanted it to. I can be such a perfectionist when it comes to crafts/projects that I create, it's actually kind of annoying. I guess the most important thing was that it tasted good. But anyway, here are a couple pictures of how it turned out. Hopefully I'll get better as I get more experienced.